PATRIOTS (1-1) vs. BILLS (0-2)
*Sun., Sept. 26, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. EDT
Gillette Stadium (68,756) *
The New England Patriots return home this week to face the Buffalo Bills in the second of three-straight games against AFC East opponents. Last week the Patriots lost, 28-14, at the New York Jets. After hosting the Bills at Gillette Stadium this Sunday, the Patriots will travel to Miami for their first prime time game of the season on Monday Night Football against the Dolphins.
The Patriots will attempt to get back on the winning track this week and extend their streak to 14 straight wins over the Buffalo Bills. Bill Belichick is 45-20 against AFC East opponents as head coach of the Patriots and QB Tom Brady owns a 39-11 record against AFC East opponents as a starter, including a 15-1 record against Buffalo.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TELEVISION: This week's game will be broadcast to a regional audience by CBS and can be seen in Boston on WBZ-TV Channel 4. Kevin Harlan will handle playby- play duties with Solomon Wilcots providing color.
RADIO: 98.5 FM, The Sports Hub, is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. A complete listing of the network's 36 stations can be found here. Play-by-play broadcaster Gil Santos is in his 34th season as the voice of the Patriots and will call the action along with Patriots Hall of Famer Gino Cappelletti. Santos and Cappelletti are celebrating their 27th season as a tandem.
SERIES SUCCESS
The Patriots extended their win streak to 13 games over Buffalo with a series sweep in 2009. The 13-game win streak over a single opponent is tied for the fourth longest streak in NFL history.
THE PATRIOTS WANT TO HELP KICK CANCER IN 2010
The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation will run a season-long campaign to raise cancer awareness. At every home game in 2010, the Patriots will raise awareness about common cancers through messages to fans, the distribution of educational material and other awareness efforts. This Sunday against Buffalo, the Patriots will begin the campaign with efforts to help Women's Cancers Awareness. For more information about the initiative will be made available this week.
SERIES HISTORYThe Patriots and Bills will meet for the 101st time, with New England holding a 59-40-1 edge following a series sweep in 2009 for the sixth straight season. The Patriots, who have won 13 straight games against Buffalo, have not lost a game to the Bills since a 31-0 loss on opening day of the 2003 season (9/7/03). The 13-game win streak is the fourth longest winning streak over a single opponent in NFL history.
The series between the AFC East rivals began in 1960. The Patriots' 59 wins over the Bills are their highest victory total over any opponent, nine more than they own over the New York Jets (50). New England has won 13 straight games in the series and has won 18 of its last 20 games against Buffalo dating back to the 2000 season.
The Patriots have won by an average margin of 18 points per game during their current 13-game win streak. The Patriots are 28-21 all-time in Buffalo, including 21-15 at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Patriots beat the Bills last season with a come-from-behind 25-24 win on opening day at Gillette Stadium (9/14/9), and then won the re-match at Ralph Wilson Stadium (12/20/09), 17-10.
The teams have had many memorable matchups over the years, including a five-game span from 1999 to 2001 where four of the five contests were decided in overtime.
SERIES TRENDS
- Home Record: 31-19
- Record in Foxborough: 25-14
- Foxboro Stadium: 17-14
- Gillette Stadium: 8-0
- Record in Boston: 6-5
- Away Record: 28-21-1
- War Memorial Stadium: 7-6-1
- Ralph Wilson/Rich Stadium: 21-15
- Largest Margin of Victory: 46 points (2007)
- Largest Margin of Defeat: 35 points (1970)
- Longest Win Streak: 13 games (current streak)
- Bill Belichick vs. Buffalo Bills: 18-3 (18-2 with N.E)
PATRIOTS - BILLS QUICK HITS
- The Patriots have won nine straight games against Buffalo at home, including a perfect 8-0 record at Gillette Stadium.
- The Patriots have recorded 59 wins over the Bills, the most by the Patriots against any one opponent.
- New England has won 13 straight games against Buffalo, the longest series winning streak against an opponent.
- The Patriots have defeated the Bills 18 times in the last 20 games between the teams.
DIVISIONAL DOMINANCE
The New England Patriots own a 43-14 (.754) record in regular season AFC East games since the beginning of the 2001 season, compiling the best intra-division record of any team in the NFL over the last nine seasons. The Patriots finished 4-2 in the division in 2009.
PASSING PERFORMANCESTom Brady is slated to start against Buffalo for the 17th time in his career. The Patriots signal caller has led the Patriots to 15 regular season victories over the Bills, recording his highest regular season victory total over any opponent. Brady has compiled 11 consecutive victories over the Bills, marking his longest regular-season winning streak over any opponent. Additionally, Brady has thrown for more touchdowns (33) against Buffalo than any other opponent.
CONNECTIONS
- Patriots RB Sammy Morris was drafted by the Bills with the 156th overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft.
- Bills Defensive Quality Control CoachAdrian Whitespent his final year as a player in the NFL with the Patriots in 1993.
- Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez, DE Jermaine Cunningham and LB Brandon Spikes and Bills WR David Nelson were all teammates at the University of Florida from 2007-08.
- Additionally, Patriots DL Gerard Warren and Bills LB Andra Davisworked in the same defensive corps at Florida from 1999-2000.
- Patriots LB Gary Guyton and Bills OL Cordaro Howard were teammates at Georgia Tech from 2005-06.
- Bills Head Coach Chan Gailey was the Head Coach at Georgia Tech from 2002-07, and Guyton and Howard played for him during their time with the Yellow Jackets.
- Patriots S Patrick Chung and Bills S Jairus Byrd were four-year teammates and partners in the secondary at Oregon from 2005-08. The two were also drafted just eight picks apart in the 2009 NFL Draft, with Chung going to the Patriots with the 34th overall pick and Byrd to the Bills at No. 42.
- Patriots RB Sammy Morris and Bills Defensive Coordinator George Edwards were both members of the Miami Dolphins for the 2005-06 seasons.
- Patriots RB Fred Taylor and Bills DE Marcus Stroud spent seven seasons together with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2001-07.
- Patriots DT Vince Wilfork and S Brandon Meriweatherand Bills WR Roscoe Parrish were all teammates at the University of Miami in 2003.
- Patriots OL Matt Light and Bills Akin Ayodele were college teammates at Purdue from 1999-2000. Ayodele was also a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars with Patriots RB Fred Taylor and LB Tracy White.
- Buffalo LB Antonio Coleman and New England CB Jonathan Wilhite played defense together at Auburn from 2006-07.
- Patriots recent acquisition S Jarrad Page played for the Denver Broncos with Bills OL Cornell Green in 2005.
- New England WR Randy Mossand Buffalo DE Spencer Johnson both played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2004.
- Bills backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick played for the Harvard Crimson from 2001-04.
TOUGH AT HOMEThe Patriots own an overall record of 60-13 (.822) at Gillette Stadium. Since their state-of-the-art facility opened at the beginning of the 2002 season, the Patriots own the NFL's best record at home.
BY THE NUMBERS
3
The number of consecutive seasons Randy Moss has recorded 10 or more touchdown catches to become the first Patriots player with three seasons of 10-plus TD catches. He had 23 in 2007, 11 in 2008 and an NFL-leading 13 in 2009. His nine seasons of 10 or more touchdowns tie Jerry Rice for the NFL record.
3
Wes Welker and Moss became the first Patriots to have back-toback 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 2008 and stretched that to three straight 1,000-yard seasons after both went over 1,000 yards in 2009.
3
The number of seasons that Welker has reached 100 receptions and 1,000 receiving yards to join Marvin Harrison (4), Jerry Rice (3), Herman Moore (3) and Brandon Marshall (3) as the only players to catch 100 passes and have 1,000 receiving yards in three consecutive seasons.
6The number of times in NFL history that a team has had two players go three straight seasons with 1,000 yards receiving after Moss and Welker completed their third straight season with over 1,000 yards receiving in 2009.
7The number of NFL receivers who have reached 14,000 receiving yards. Moss became the seventh player to reach the milestone in 2009 and now has 14,562 receiving yards.
7
The number of seasons that Tom Brady has passed for more than 3,000 yards to tie the team record with Drew Bledsoe.
65
The number of consecutive regular-season games that Welker has caught at least one reception. He has caught at least one pass in all 51 games as a member of the Patriots, including three postseason games.
71
The number of times that Brady has thrown two or more touchdowns in a game. The Patriots are 60-11 when he throws for two or more touchdowns.
149
The number of receiving touchdowns by Moss, who needs one more touchdown reception to join Jerry Rice (197) as the only two NFL players to top 150 touchdown catches.
150
The number of total touchdowns by Moss, who is just the fourth NFL player to ever reach 150 overall touchdowns.
THE KRAFT ERA
3
The number of Super Bowl championships the Patriots have won since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994. That mark is the highest total in the NFL over that span. Only Denver (2; 1997 and 1998) and Pittsburgh (2; 2005 and 2008) have won multiple Super Bowl titles since 1994.
5
The number of conference championships the Patriots have won since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994. That mark is the highest total in the NFL over that span. Pittsburgh is second with three conference titles since 1994.
17
The number of playoff games the Patriots have won since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994. That mark is the highest total in the NFL over that span. Pittsburgh ranks second with 15 playoff wins over that span.
25
The number of playoff games the Patriots have appeared in since 1994. The mark is the highest in the NFL, ahead of the 23 games played by Pittsburgh.
173
The number consecutive home games the Patriots have sold out, a streak that includes every preseason, regular season and playoff game since the 1994 regular season opener.
THE BELICHICK ERA
4
Bill Belichick is one of just four coaches to win three championships since the Super Bowl era began. Belichick joins three members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the exclusive club (Chuck Knoll 4, Joe Gibbs 3 and Bill Walsh 3). Belichick is the only coach to win three Super Bowls in the post-1993 salary cap era and the only one to ever win three in four years.
108-38
The Patriots' regular season record since 2001 under Head Coach Bill Belichick. Under Belichick, the Patriots have won 74.0 percent of their regular season games, recording the highest winning percentage of any major American professional sports team over that span.
